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PARIS – You know an open mic is successful when even in the middle of July in Paris it continues to be full of musicians, poets, spoken word artists and drunks, and that it just keeps on transforming and mutating. That’s how I felt at Raphaëlle’s open mic in the Noctambule bar on the Place Pigalle on Friday.
It was only the sixth edition of the open mic, but the combination seems nearly perfect so far: Raphaëlle’s amazing hosting, her amazing singing, the amazing location on this famous Paris place, and a managerial team at one of Paris’s longtime music locations that makes no serious complaints so far about the raucousness of the open mic.
And the great thing on Friday was certainly the moments of four or so spoken word things happening, taking the open mic onto a another level. There were keyboards this time as well, as Vinny brought his keyboards and a violinist.
There were several regulars and many new faces as well, which also indicates good health for an open mic. I just never tire of this one on the place Pigalle, standing there singing behind a mic looking out into the streets and trying to see if anyone is listening on the other side of the Place!!!! Summer in Paris is a particularly difficult time to fill up an open mic, given the vacation ritual – on the other hand, there are also tourists aplenty, and the open mic is a great place for an expat to vent their thing to the Paris air….
Oh, and this time, finally someone caught me on video doing some of my singing – Léandro Bronze, of Brazil, filmed me doing my song, “Since You Left Me,” which I haven’t played for a while….Follow @BradSpurgeon